Thursday, 23rd October, 2014
David de Gea admits that he found it hard to cope with the initial criticism he had to face for his performances at Manchester United.
Sir Alex Ferguson decided to spend £17.8m in the summer of 2011 to bring the then 21-year-old goalkeeper to Old Trafford from Atletico Madrid.
It was believed that the Spaniard didn’t have the physical stature to succeed in England and his initial performances at Manchester United came under heavy criticism from all quarters.
But the young goalkeeper stuck to his task and became one of the most vital members of the Manchester United first team. He was also named the club’s double Player of the Year last season.
De Gea has been the only permanent member of Manchester United’s defence this season and has not missed a single minute of action.
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But the Spaniard still remembers those initial days of struggle and admits that at times he found it hard to withstand the intense scrutiny that he had to go through.
"I felt bad, even though [Sir] Alex Ferguson always backed me”, De Gea told German magazine Kicker.
"I tried to be positive. What helped me is that I loved the daily work on the training ground, and used that to get better.
"But at first it was not easy to cope with all the criticism."
The 23-year-old has made 141 appearances for Manchester United and has 49 clean sheets to his credit.
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